While meander line loaded antennas are known and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,790,080; 6,313,716; 6,323,814; 6,373,440; 6,373,446; 6,480,158; 6,492,953; and 6,404,391, assigned to the assignee hereof and included herein by reference, there is a necessity for locating a wide bandwidth double monopole meander line loaded antenna in a radome especially on an unmanned airborne vehicle for use in communication and surveillance. Typically, the radomes on such aircraft are designed with a 30-inch diameter, making it somewhat difficult to locate a standard rectilinear meander line loaded antenna in such a restricted space.
As can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,543 a double monopole meander line loaded antenna has a vertical radiator connected by meander lines to orthogonally-oriented radiators which extend horizontally in either direction from the top of the vertical radiator. In all of the prior meander line loaded antennas there is a right angle between the horizontal and vertical radiators such that the top plate is always parallel to the ground plane plate utilized. This parallel plate configuration optimizes the current distribution for maximum bandwidth. It will be appreciated that with rectilinear double monopole meander line loaded antennas, the spacing between the top plate and the ground plane plate is invariant. Because of this, the height of the horizontal plates above the ground plane plate limits the ability to place such an antenna in a small radome without reducing the overall size and volume of the antenna. Such a reduction in size limits the ultra-wideband characteristic of the antenna because the low frequency cutoff is raised.